Princess of Lorien, Queen of Imladris
by Elf Digest
Summary: Celebrian's life, starting from birth and (eventually) ending with her departure from Middle-earth.
1. Default Chapter

Princess of Lorien, Queen of Imladris  
  
This is the life and times of Celebrian, starting from birth and ending with her departure from Middle-earth. For any who know only the movie(s), Celebrian was Elrond's wife and mother of Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen Undomiel.   
  
It's supposed to be romantic, as the description says. I hope I didn't rush things too much. It's such a terrible fault of mine.  
  
Be nice, all ye reviewers... it took me a while to get up the guts to post this. If somebody out there likes it I'll be happy.  
  
Rated PG-13 for brief mentions of sex.  
--Elf Digest  
  
Disclaimer: None of the main characters belong to me. They belong to JRR Tolkien.  
  
The characters may be slightly out of character. They'll be *way* out of character when I upload my parodies. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One:  
  
Celeborn glanced from his wife to the tiny, pink-faced thing, wailing, in the cradle.  
  
It stretched up its tiny arms to him.  
  
Celeborn suddenly felt uncomfortable, as Galadriel lifted the child gently out of the tiny cradle and placed it in his arms, saying all the while that the baby loved him, and as if to confirm her words the infant ceased its sobs.  
  
He sat on the bed. O Elbereth, how could this have happened? He never meant for Galadriel to bear any child of his. He knew he would be such a terrible father... adult elves disliked him, why should a child love him?  
  
Galadriel's look of pure love for her little daughter made Celeborn felt guilty. Galadriel had lived for so many thousands of years, many of those years spent alone, and childless. The First Age had been filled with such hate, distrust, and malice. He also knew she had expressed her want for a child for some time, and remembered steadfastly refusing, each and every time. But this time... the clever, impish woman... she had played on his emotions, asking not for a child but for one simple night of lovemaking. It was probably the influence many years before of that impudent mortal woman Elwing.  
  
Well, in any case, her happiness was worth future torment of raising a child he had never truly wanted. He could learn to love his daughter.  
  
"What shall we name her?" Galadriel asked, taking the child's warm, wriggling body from his arms into her own. Tiny fists batted the air. "I think Celebrian would be perfect."  
  
"Whatever you want." he found himself saying. He didn't mean for it to sound so apathetic, so devoid of emotion, but his wife and child seemed to be unaware. Standing, he added, "Shall I see if Eriol can come to take measurements?" Lovely and fair as the child was, her parents could not allow her to go around naked.  
  
"Of course, love. How thoughtful of you." She was trying to help ease his irritability, at having to be around something he feared and dreaded.  
  
He was glad to have an excuse to leave.  
Lothlorien had always been filled with an air of apathy similar to Celeborn's. Noldor elves waited for their chance to go to the Grey Havens with more enthusiasm than they gave anything else, even orc hunting. A happy, youthful, active child added a more relaxed air to these tense elves, and sometimes even her presence alone could distill a brewing argument as both parties would reach down to pet her and encourage her along in her playtime.  
  
"Mama! Papa! Watch me!" Celebrian would cry, leaping over a fallen tree or jump over a babbling brook with all the dexterity of an elf. The rare times she tripped and fell, she just picked herself up and continued as if nothing had happened.  
  
Celeborn was beginning to warm up to his daughter, realizing that he too enjoyed her presence. She was completely unlike the image he had pictured of any child he would ever have -- an image of a hateful, sullen child, who saw him the way he saw himself. He was grateful that her mother was Galadriel.  
  
At that moment Celeborn and Galadriel sat on a blanket, watching their daughter shoot arrows at a target circle many yards away. For a five-year-old Noldor, she never missed her target, not even when the captain of the Lorien guards offered to pick up the target and move it around as she shot it.  
  
"She's good with the bow." Galadriel remarked to her husband. "If she gets any better Calaglin will beg for her to join the guard!"  
  
"She couldn't." Celeborn said firmly, almost immediately. "It's too dangerous for a child."  
  
"She wouldn't enlist now, of course!" Galadriel smiled. "When she is an adult she will most certainly be one of the best fighting elves Lothlorien has ever seen."  
As Celebrian grew, so did her skills. She was an excellent horse rider, she could shoot a bow perfectly from two hundred yards away, and bested all of Calaglin's guardsmen with the sword. Celeborn had found himself more involved with her training than he'd thought, as he gave her archery tips and offered to be her opponent in swordplay. Having led elves to battle more than once, he still considered himself a warrior, although his own equipment had not seen use in at least a hundred years.  
  
And not only was she strong, but beautiful. Many Lorien elves boasted of being defeated in battle by the stunning warrior princess.  
  
Yet, for all the attention she gained from her skills and beauty, she had never once expressed interest in anything but her activities, and her studies.  
  
One afternoon, Galadriel could not help but notice her daughter's apathy, as Celebrian draped herself over the rail, looking sadly into the forest.  
  
"What troubles you, my child?" she asked.  
  
"Mother, what is beyond the forest?" Celebrian asked, moving, so that Galadriel could see the thick book on the seat next to her. It was one Celeborn had found in the library for her, full of tales of the First Age and the War of the Ring her father had recently taken part in. Among her mathematics and Elven study books, this one was clearly her favorite -- whenever she was not practicing her fighting, she was reading it, over and over again.  
  
"There is the Misty Mountains, and beyond that Imladris." The Queen of Lothlorien seated herself carefully beside her daughter, and looked into her eyes. There was a pause before Galadriel added, in a voice barely audible, "You desire to leave Lothlorien."  
  
"I--" Celebrian knew well her mother's talent for telepathy, but was not expecting this. "I have seen only trees, Mother. Only this forest. It is beautiful only because you tell me it is. I have seen nothing else to compare it with, and these stories make me wish I were indeed somewhere else." She sighed, and asked, "Mother, the trip you and Father are taking, to Imladris, to see Lord Elrond... may I not also go?"  
  
"Your father will refuse."  
  
"I will ask him." Celebrian rose and left to seek Celeborn.  
"Absolutely not. It's too dangerous. It takes days to cross the Misty Mountains!" Celeborn told his daughter, as she begged to be taken along.  
  
"You and Mother have done it, many times! I am an elf, not a mortal, and I do not freeze easily! If we encountered trouble I could fight them off!" Celebrian argued.  
  
"Celeborn, let her go." Galadriel spoke softly. "She expresses a desire to see the outside world. You cannot lock her up here forever. Beautiful as Lorien is, it is her prison."  
  
Celeborn could not look at either elf for some time, before he replied, "What would you do for a week, Celebrian? You have never loved council meetings before." Celebrian gave him a wry face, before replying, "Of course not! Thranduil is the only non-Lorien elf I have ever met, besides King Gil-galad, and neither was very interesting."  
  
"What makes you think Elrond is that interesting?"  
  
"Because he isn't Thranduil!"  
  
"Elrond knows quite a bit that even I do not." Galadriel added. "He is half-elven, and has been collecting information on the histories of both elves and men for thousands of years."  
  
"See?"  
  
Celeborn was beaten. "All right, all right." he sighed. "If it means this much to you. And when we return please do not complain that we never take you anywhere." He gave her a wry smile at this little joke before leaving to pack. Galadriel and Celebrian did the same. 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two:  
  
"I absolutely love it!" Celebrian exclaimed, as she and her parents passed under the old stone entryway to Imladris. "It smells so different here."  
  
"Welcome to Imladris." answered a dark-haired elf, taking the reins of the Lorien elves' mounts. He had a slight, almost unnoticable, stutter, and his skin was a shade darker than any of the pale elves Celebrian knew. "My name is Erestor, and I am Lord Elrond's chief advisor. Master Elrond had to see to a minor crisis, or he would have been here himself." He gave the reins to another elf, one with lighter skin but chestnut-brown hair. "Please follow me." he nodded to the dismounted Lorien family.  
  
The meeting-room was similar, yet so different, to what Celebrian had pictured. The open canopy in some places allowed for a beautiful view of the surrounding area, even though they were in a valley.  
  
"Welcome. I am sorry I could not greet you in person, Lady Galadriel, Lord Celeborn." A tall, dark-haired elf descended the stairs to Celebrian's right. His face was neither young nor old, but knowledgable. Celebrian felt drawn to him. She had never seen a softer face, or gentler eyes, on any of the stiff-necked Lorien elves. He looked every bit as noble as her parents, yet seemed younger somehow.   
  
"It is all right, Elrond." Galadriel replied, smiling. Without missing a beat she added, "Elrond, this is Celebrian, our daughter." By this she meant hers and Celeborn's, and this introduction caused Celebrian to turn and see Lord Elrond face-to-face.  
  
"Greetings, Lord Elrond." She bowed, as she was instructed, and gave him her hand to kiss. She didn't hear his reply; the depths of his bluish-green eyes ensnared her. As he released her hand and went to lead her parents to the council room, she could only nod in response. Her heart was beating quicker than usual.  
  
During the council meeting, Elrond had Erestor give Celebrian a tour of Imladris. The darker elf had been newly employed, as she discovered, and was eternally grateful for it. His parents, both nobles, had been killed thousands of years ago, leaving only himself, alone, searching for a purpose. At that time he had befriended the young warrior-noble Elrond, herald of King Gil-galad, and when Gil-galad had been killed in battle and Elrond regarded as a lord in his own right, Erestor was invited to live at Imladris, now a major elven-dwelling.  
  
"Men of the South also visit regularly." Erestor added. "Perhaps one may come by during your visit. Don't worry; unlike many men, the ones who pass by Glorfindel and his guards are respectable, noble creatures. To be honest, that's what makes Imladris such a wonderful place. It constantly changes."  
  
"Men would never be allowed into Caras Galadhon, even if they could find it." Celebrian replied. "Father hates mortals, along with most of the Lorien elves. Mother only tolerates them."  
  
"Then I am glad to be living here." Erestor replied, then stopped near a door. "This is your room, Lady Celebrian. I hope it is to your liking."  
  
After hearing that, Celebrian was almost afraid to step into the room. She tentatively opened the door, and looked into a spacious room with a large, soft bed, a shelf full of books, and a marvelous view of a babbling brook and several deer who happened to be drinking there. The room itself was a masterpiece; columns made of carved oak, designed to look like maidens pouring water from urns, all the while being gently ensnared in vines. The oak statue over her bed was of a woman spreading out her arms, her hair and clothes flying out behind her.  
  
"It's beautiful." she replied, after several long moments. "Is this really where I will be staying? I could stay in a place like this for several months."  
  
"It is where you will be staying, and Lord Elrond will be happy to know that you like the room he selected for you." The very mention of his name sent Celebrian's heart a-flutter.  
After the council meeting, Elrond invited Celebrian and her parents to one of the gardens to discuss less serious matters.  
  
"You've lived for quite some time now, Elrond." Galadriel mentioned. "And yet you're not married."  
  
"I haven't found the right girl yet." Elrond replied. "I'm not like my brother. I'm not mortal. And, I'm not as frivolous with girls as he was."  
  
"I see." All through this conversation Celebrian was silent, staring only at her feet, afraid to meet anyone's eyes.  
The moon was out early that night, and Celeborn announced he was going to bed. He and Galadriel had been accustomed to sleeping early, since in his opinion the sunrise was more beautiful than the night.  
  
With him gone, that left Elrond, Galadriel, and Celebrian.  
  
"I believe it is getting late." Galadriel stood, pausing, then turning to leave. "Good night, Elrond, Celebrian." She parted, intentionally leaving her daughter with their host.  
  
There was silence.  
  
"It is a nice night." Celebrian mentioned casually, rubbing her fingers together nervously. "Can one see the moon from here?"  
  
"Of course." Elrond looked around, trying to think of something else to add, before giving up. "Would you like to see it?"  
  
"If you please, would you show me?" They stood, Celebrian holding her hand out in a ladylike fashion, Elrond accepting it most gentlemanlike.  
"It's beautiful." Celebrian could find no more poetic words for the sunset over the cliffs surrounding Imladris. "I can see the moons from here. I've only read of them in books."  
  
"That moon there, with the bluish tinge, holds many memories for me." Elrond pointed, his voice becoming low and comforting, as if he were telling a story. Celebrian thought to herself that right at this moment, there was no better place in all of Middle-Earth than here at this bench, with the elf who made her heart skip beats.  
  
"Why is that, Lord Elrond?"  
  
Elrond settled back in his seat, his face serene. "King Gil-galad used to tell me that wherever I was, I could look at the moon, and know my mother and father were looking at that same moon." He pointed to a rather bright star not far from the blue moon. "See that large star? That is the Star of Earendil, my father. It comforts me when I am alone." Here his voice broke its methodical pattern, and she could see for the first time how lonely he was. Elrond was nearly seven thousand years old, never married, and had naught but servants to speak to.  
  
She could relate to that, she figured, but held her tongue lest she forget her manners and speak it aloud.  
  
"I wonder what my mother is doing." Elrond had left his mother long ago when he was but a lad, in the land of Ossiriand. All else of her fate and her husband's had been related to Elrond through Gil-galad.  
  
"Is she alive?"  
  
"Yes. She is elven now, though not when I was born. She wears wings of the birds and lives in a white tower by the ocean, so that she may greet my father when he comes home." His voice broke, and so did Celebrian's heart, to see him grieve silently.  
  
She leaned her head against his shoulder.  
  
He flinched at the tender gesture, then relaxed into it.  
  
"You can cry if you want to." Had she really said that aloud? She must have, because at that moment he leaned his head against hers, desiring comfort. A silver tear dripped onto her hand, making her shiver slightly. Not knowing what else to say, she added, "I will be the shoulder you can always cry on."  
  
He said naught else for quite some time, before she discovered he had cried himself to sleep, all without saying a word.  
  
"Good night, Lord Elrond." 


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three:  
  
She was awakened by the dawn and by Elrond's stirring beside her. Seeing the bright star's position in the sky, she mumbled, "My parents must be looking for me."  
  
Elrond sat up, looked at her, and then down at the ground. "I have not cried since I was four." he said softly, his fists clenching and unclenching. "I'm sorry. You must think it was terrible of me, your host, to cry on you like that. I felt rather comfortable here, and telling stories about my past to someone who actually cares is a rare occurance."  
  
"Think nothing of it. I am flattered you considered me special enough to... to cry on." They looked each other in the eye, and she swore she saw sparks and colors fly. She had never seen a gentler, wiser elf than Elrond, and his presence was more intoxicating than the most beautiful elf in all of Lorien.  
  
"You mentioned your parents would be looking for you." He stood, and extended his hand for hers. "I will call a servant for breakfast, and apologize for any trouble being absent from your room might get you into."  
  
Her heart seemed to stop beating, and when he led her to the banquet hall, where Galadriel and Celeborn were seated, discussing matters, she asked herself if it really was love.  
  
She would have to ask her mother, later.  
"What is it I can do for you, my daughter?" Galadriel asked quietly, brushing her long golden hair. Her daughter's heart told her more than the stammered reply.  
  
"I wish to speak to you, alone. About... about..." She searched for the right word. "Love."  
  
Galadriel's eyebrows raised.  
  
"It is Lord Elrond." she stated, her voice low, as she seated herself on the bed next to her mother. "I have never felt this way before. He has such a power round him, that I feel drawn to him. My heart skips its rhythmic beats, and my breath quickens."  
  
Galadriel, having lived for quite some time, knew well how it felt to find one's soul mate. Since not even the most sexually alluring elf had turned her daughter's head, she thought often about what would. She knew what her daughter meant about Elrond's "power"--his wisdom, his knowledge, and his tranquil nature. If this was what it took to interest Celebrian, then the girl was lucky to have such a deep sense of person.  
  
"You are in love with him." She smiled, and began to brush her daughter's hair, all the while looking into the mirror reflection of her daughter's eyes. "You spent the night with his cheek on your shoulder. He showed you his unreachable heart. You would do anything for him."  
  
"When I sat next to him, I felt..." Celebrian could not find a fitting word to describe her feelings. "I wanted to be there forever, as long as he was there, beside me, showing me the stars. I simply could not rest alone, in an unfamiliar room."  
  
"And does he also love you?"  
  
There was silence.  
  
"I do not know." was the reply.  
  
Galadriel decided she would find the answer herself.  
It was evening, and as Celebrian bathed in another room, Elrond sat by himself, on the bench, looking at the star of Earendil, his father. His eyes turned upwards in a pleading motion, begging his father for wisdom. Wisdom in state affairs he had -- wisdom in love he had not.  
  
"You sit by yourself here, Elrond?" came a voice behind him. Galadriel appeared, radiating, and sat beside him.  
  
"Can I aid you in anything, my Lady?" Elrond asked, his tome demure.  
  
"Yes. Yes, you can." She paused to note the twinkling of the Star of Earendil before continuing. "You spend quite a lot of time with my daughter. You must enjoy her company."  
  
"I do."  
  
"You spent every night, since our arrival, on this bench, with her."  
  
"I did nothing to harm her."  
  
"I know." Her smile convinced him she had come for a different reason, and that she knew his heart and mind. "You love her."  
  
It was the first time Elrond had heard his complex war of emotions put into three small, simple words.  
  
He could not speak for some time.  
  
"Thou wishest to make her thine queen." She spoke in Quenya, relating the fact that they were both of elven nature. "And I givest thou my blessing."  
  
There was silence, before Elrond whispered, "I would do anything for her. I have lived nearly seven thousand years, my Lady, and met thousands upon thousands of young ladies, yet none have touched my heart like she has. When you depart I shall miss her terribly."  
  
She stood. "Thank you, Elrond. You have told me what I wished to hear." While he mused over those words she left, to bed. 


	5. Chapter Four

I would've posted sooner, but I was going through some personal problems.  
  
Another note: all chapters up to the middle of Chapter Six are pre-written. After that, anything goes...  
--Elf Digest  
  
****  
  
Chapter Four:  
  
As they waved good-bye to their generous host, Elrond and Celebrian looked at each other with such longing that Celebrian could barely manage to keep her palfrey walking to keep up with those of her parents.  
  
As each became naught more than a dot on the horizon to the other, they finally turned their faces away.  
  
Celebrian felt as if her heart had broken.  
  
Elrond wished he could die, right under that archway.  
  
Celeborn pulled back his palfrey to keep in step with that of his daughter's. He did not share his wife's gift for reading hearts, as well as minds, but he knew something was wrong with his child.  
  
"You are troubled." he said, his voice low, his face showing only concern.  
  
She finally forced her mouth to work, and her lips to make discernable words. "I am fine." Her eyes were red. "I will be."  
It was thirty-three days later, and Celebrian was not as "fine" as she claimed. She had eaten only what her mother had forced her to eat, and spent time alone, huge amounts of time, either draped over the balcony outside her room or on the bed inside, sobbing until she had no more breath.  
  
"What is wrong with her?" Celeborn asked one night at dinner, one which Celebrian had refused to attend.  
  
Galadriel sat silently, the pain of her daughter coursing through her own heart. "Her heart is broken."  
  
"What?"  
  
She could only look at him.  
  
"Who? Who broke her heart?" He stood, standing over her.  
  
"Love broke her heart." Galadriel bade her husband sit, lest he work himself into a rage. "She is in love with the Lord Elrond."  
  
"He broke her heart?"  
  
"And she broke his, I am sure. If only she were allowed to remain in Imladris."  
  
Celeborn felt that once again he had been left out of something very important. "Start over, love. Is our child really in love with Elrond? Did he hurt her?" He gripped his cloth napkin so tightly his knuckles were as white as his wife's dress. "Should we have brought her to Imladris? I will kill that half-breed elf if he dares to hurt my daughter!" He slammed the napkin, and the fist clutching it, onto the table.  
  
"Calm down!" It was Galadriel's turn to stand, and she loomed over him. "Elrond and Celebrian are both in love. It broke her heart to leave him!"  
  
Celeborn was speechless. Elrond had spent much time with his daughter, now that he noticed it, and she had seemed so radiant when he brought her to breakfast each morning.   
  
"I will speak to her." He rose and left.  
In her room, Celebrian, her dresses, books, sword, bow and arrows packed, had been writing a letter. She was dressed in riding clothes -- most unladylike for anyone but one who was planning a stealthy escape.  
  
Dear Mother and Father,  
By the time you read this I will have departed.  
My life is so miserable here I cannot describe it on paper.  
If you search your hearts you will know where I dwell.  
Please do not seek to return me here.  
Love always,  
Princess Celebrian  
  
With that, she hugged the letter to her chest and dropped it on the bed. She slung the pack to her shoulder, stepped outside her window, crept along the narrow ledge until she reached the lit walkway, and ran the rest of the way to the stables, where she chose a mount and departed. None dared stop her.  
In Imladris, it was once again mealtime. Elrond had not eaten a single bite of food in an entire day, not since the last bite he'd eaten for Erestor's sake, since the other elf would not leave until he had eaten. He currently lay on his bed, looking blankly up at the ceiling, his utter depression creating an unseen cloud of misery round his bed.  
  
"He's been sad before, but never like this." Erestor told Glorfindel, the captain of the guard. "He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep, he wanders to that old bench in the courtyard and back."  
  
Glorfindel was about to reply, before a shout from one of the guards alerted him. "Sir! The princess of Lothlorien is headed this way!"  
  
A blur of motion rushed by Erestor and Glorfindel, before both bewildered elves realized it was Elrond.  
  
In the forest, before the gates, Elrond stopped. The radiant beauty of his princess, a gold aura, commanded his senses. She rose upon her white steed, wearing clothing of the purest white.  
  
Leaping off of her mount, she rushed to her lover's side and threw her arms around him.  
  
"Elrond... Elrond, I love you!"  
  
He pressed his face against hers, letting his tears fall. "I love you, too, Celebrian." Never again would he let her leave his sight, never again would his heart break, as long as Celebrian stood beside him.  
  
"Celebrian..." he started, in Quenya, fumbling for the right words, "my treasure, my soul mate, my love... would thou doest me the honor of becoming my wife?"  
  
She smiled, with all the pent-up longing she had held for him, her face more beautiful than any Elrond had ever seen. She was more than worthy of becoming his queen, if she accepted.  
  
"I would accept thine proposal, and become thine hallowed wife, if thou wouldst become my sacred husband." she replied, placing her cheek on his chest.  
  
"We shall be married tonight."  
  
"I cannot wait."  
  
He led her back inside, his face projecting such a look of utter tranquility and happiness that his servants were transfixed. Inside his -- no, their room -- he opened her pack and proceeded to carefully hang each robe in his closet, while she sat on the bed and gazed around the room. For being an elven-lord, his room certainly wasn't much different from the room she had while visiting Imladris.  
  
Soon I shall be his wife, she thought, and even my parents cannot tear me away from this place.  
  
"Are you hungry?"   
  
She blinked, then nodded. "A bit." she admitted, allowing him to lift her off of the bed, into his arms.   
  
"Shall I carry you to the dining hall?" he asked, grinning. She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.   
  
"Thou art a true elven-lord!" she smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek, as he carried her the short distance to the open dining hall, and announced their engagement. That evening, they were wedded under a silver mellorn tree, and Celebrian could not remember a happier moment, nor could Elrond.  
  
Elrond bade his wife to write her mother of the passing events, since Celebrian had told Galadriel years ago never to eavesdrop on her life through that accursed mirror.  
  
Dear Mother and Father,  
Elrond and I are married, and none shall  
break that bond.  
I am happier than I can describe in words.  
-- Queen Celebrian of Imladris  
  
As Galadriel received the letter, bound in green silk, from the elf messenger, she clasped it to her bosom, already knowing what words were printed on the paper. As she handed the letter to her husband, she hoped he, of all people, would understand.  
  
Celeborn was silent as he handed the letter back. How, he cursed silently, how could Elrond take his little girl from him? 


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
Thirty-Eight Years Later:  
  
"Tell me a story."  
  
Celebrian lay with her head on her husband's chest, close to sleep. It was a warm summer night, and the elves slept only in light night-robes. She could hear the beating of his heart, so rhythmic and comforting.  
  
"What do you want to hear?" His voice was soft, as he fought back sleep to fulfill the wish of his wife.  
  
"Something with a happy ending." She yawned, unable to hold it back.  
  
"It must be short, then, because you look tired." He wrapped his arm around her waist and thought for a moment. "What are you in the mood for?"  
  
"Romance." She snuggled up closer to him, enjoying the sound of his voice. "Tell me something romantic."  
  
"Something you have not heard before?"  
  
"Yes, if you please."  
  
He sat back for a moment, thinking, before relaying the famed tale of the love of Beren and Luthien. When he finished, she asked, "And you are descended from them?"  
  
"They were my great-grandparents. From them sprang Dior, then Elwing my mother, then me and my brother." He ran a finger through her silk, flaxen hair. "My brother is long-dead, and has been for almost three thousand years. Between his death and my marriage to you I have been quite lonely indeed." There was a pause. "I was almost certain I would become like King Finrod and never take a wife."  
  
There was a long silence, before Celebrian asked, "Elrond?"  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"There's something I want to ask you." She found she could not look him in the face -- this was an issue most controversial, and she feared he would wildly reject it.  
  
"What is it?" His hand reached up to stroke her face. "You can ask me anything."  
  
"Have you ever..." She paused... "...ever... wanted a child?"  
  
She blushed, the silence deafening. What would he say? How would he react?  
  
She was beginning to regret the idea as he finally answered. "You want a child?" His tone was not angry, but merely questioning, as one would ask a child if she wanted apple juice.  
  
A warm breeze passed over Celebrian, comforting her.  
  
"Yes." she replied. "I've never felt more ready for anything in my entire life."  
  
"Why a child?"  
  
A pause.  
  
"Something..." she began, searching for the right words, "...something is missing."  
  
"From what?"  
  
"My life." She separated a thick strand of her hair into three parts and began to braid it as she talked. "I've always wanted to have a child, only with the right husband."  
  
"Then I will give you what you want, because your wish makes perfect sense to me."  
  
They made love for the first time that warm, summer night.  
"I think I'm pregnant."  
  
Elrond looked up from his studies. Both were seated in two chairs beside the window, in Elrond's vast library. It had been nearly four months since they had begun to regularly have sex. Outside, they could feel the chill winds, reminding them that in other places besides the weather-controlled Imladris it was winter.  
  
He walked over and gave her a hug, knowing that she would have not made that declaration had she not sensed, felt, and known it herself, inside and out, for some time.  
  
"There are so many preparations to be done, then." he replied. "As of right now all I have in the way of a cradle is a bureau drawer." They both smiled at the thought of the little prince or princess of Imladris sleeping in a drawer.  
  
"And I won't let you run yourself ragged with them all, either." She looked into her eyes, the depths of which even she could not comprehend. "Make a list, and do only a few of them each month. You are an elven-lord, the master of Imladris, who must deal with a constant flow of changes that need regulating. You work so hard anyway." She planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. "And, I am not so weak that even I could not do a few of these chores myself."  
  
He went to get some parchment and a quill, and made a list.  
  
1: Find acceptable room  
No drafts  
Close to parents' room  
All harmful items removed  
2: Cradle / crib  
Ask Glorfindel?  
3: Baby food, cleaner water, childsafe medicine  
4: Clothes (to be decided when baby arrives)  
  
As an afterthought, he added:  
  
5: Tell Lady Galadriel & Lord Celeborn  
  
"See?" Celebrian pointed to the first item on the list. "I could easily childproof the room. We have to find one, first."  
  
"There's the guest room next to ours. I -- eh, we -- must remove the books and do something about the statues - they're beautiful, but rather sharp. I'd hate to remove them... perhaps we may just put a guard around it--something thick and soft."  
  
"And there's the balcony." Celebrian added, standing, and bringing her husband and his list with her. "We shall just have to put some kind of a fence around it."  
  
She led him to the room in question, the selfsame room she herself had stayed at while visiting Imladris. Once there, she asked him where all the extra items would go.  
  
"The scrolls and books can go in the library." he replied, beginning to gather a bundle in his arms. "The bed can stay, for when the baby outgrows the cradle." Celebrian walked toward it and pushed it against the wall, making room for the cradle. "The artifacts on the shelves can be put into some of the other guest rooms." Celebrian delicately gathered some into her arms, and walked out to distribute them to the other rooms, while Elrond set up the books in the library.  
  
Once the books, scrolls, artifacts, and such were cleared, husband and wife surveyed the room.  
  
"Sharp corners." Elrond added. "The shelves are too heavy and too useful to leave this room, so we will have to somehow round the edges.  
  
A soft footfall behind them made them whirl around.  
  
"Glorfindel?" Elrond asked.  
  
"Are you moving?" he joked, indicating the empty space.   
  
"No, no of course not." Celebrian smiled, and exchanged a glance with a smirking Elrond, while Glorfindel was left clueless. "Well, then, what's going on?"  
  
Before Elrond could open his mouth, Celebrian replied, "I'm pregnant, Glorfindel."  
  
Glorfindel looked incredulously between his lord and lady before letting a grin slowly break out onto his face. "I couldn't be happier for you!" He embraced Celebrian, and Elrond in turn, then asked, "So you're child-proofing this room? Is there anything I can do?"  
  
"Yes; as a matter of fact, there is." Elrond replied. "The corners of the shelves and drawers are rather sharp, you see."  
  
"And you want them sanded down, or padded?"  
  
"Whichever is easier for you." Celebrian shrugged.  
  
"Padded; then you wouldn't have to ruin any of this furniture." He stepped into the room and ran his hand down one of the drawer corners. "I have something that may soften these corners up a bit." As he left, Elrond put his arm around Celebrian's shoulder, nuzzling her ear.   
  
"Are you the only elf around here who can midwife?" she asked him.  
  
"I believe so; confidently, anyway. Why?"  
  
"This baby better not come during one of your meetings, then." 


End file.
